Management reshuffle at VW, MAN and Scania
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By David Wilcox
VOLKSWAGEN (VW) is beginning to pull the strings of its two truck subsidiaries, MAN and Scania, with top executives moving between the three companies. VW says structural changes are signs that it will be “putting every effort into leveraging synergies and substantial growth potential in the CV business”.
Leif Östling, Scania’s boss since 1989, is moving up to the VW board. This is far from a non-executive role for 66-year-old Östling: he is taking overall responsibility for CVs on VW’s management board, overseeing Scania, MAN and VW CVs.
Östling’s successor as Scania chief executive, taking over on 1 September, is Martin Lundstedt (pictured above left), currently head of franchise and factory sales.
Georg Pachta-Reyhofen, who doubles as chief executive of MAN Truck & Bus and of the whole MAN SE group, is taking on more VW group duties and so is relinquishing his MAN Truck & Bus role. Scania’s head of production and logistics Anders Nielsen (above right) is to take over as MAN Truck & Bus chief executive in September.
VW’s head of vehicle development, Harald Ludanek, is moving over to become Scania’s head of research and development. He takes over from Per Hallberg, who is succeeding Nielsen in charge of production and logistics at Scania.
These moves put Scania men in the top jobs at VW’s CV operations. Last September, the European Commission approved VW’s purchase of a controlling stake in MAN, paving the way for VW’s plan to integrate Scania and MAN behind the scenes, but keep the brands separate.
“MAN and Scania can raise their profit further through closer co-operation,” VW says in a statement. “At the same time, VW is keeping all options open to further shape an integrated CV group going forward.”